Reading analysis and interpretation techniques

Judy Brudy's "I Want a Wife" is a sardonic explication of gender roles and norms. To emphasize her thesis, Brudy uses several established rhetorical techniques including pathos, ethos, and logos. "I Want a Wife" is divided into ten sections, but is still a pithy piece. The author makes her point succinctly and clearly almost within the first few sentences. Brudy begins by introducing herself as a wife, to emphasize her credibility and acknowledge her point-of-view. She starts out by saying "I belong to that classification of people known as wives. I am a Wife. and, not altogether incidentally, I am a mother." Her personal experience as a wife informs the central argument of "I Want a Wife." Brudy speaks from personal experience. Moreover, Brudy writes in the first person to ironically take on the role of husband.

The second passage of the piece adds drama: Brudy relays an anecdote about a male friend of hers who was "looking for another wife," after divorcing his first. The incident inspired Brudy's analysis of the role a wife plays. Contemplating why her male friend wanted a second wife, Brudy notes "it suddenly occurred to me that 1, too, would like to have a wife." The author then poses the rhetorical question, "Why do I want a wife" the answer to that question fills the remainder of the passage.

Section three refers to the economic arrangements between husband and wife. A husband can count on a wife supporting him through school, at the same time caring for children and domestic duties. Brudy implies that wives undertake domestic chores, family duties, and job responsibilities all at the same time. To emphasize her point, Brudy includes several details such as keeping track of doctor and dentist appointments. Wives wash the children's clothes, and "make sure that they have an adequate social life with their peers." Brudy discusses the economic subordination of wife to husband too: the wife is expected to accept an income cut to fulfill her household duties. Her needs are to be subordinated to those of the husband or the children. The economic relationship that Brudy describes is woefully unequal.

Brudy also addresses the role of the wife in taking care of the husband's physical and emotional needs. The wife keeps the house clean, plans and prepares meals, and also does the grocery shopping. Wives are also expected to listen to their husbands, whereas the husband's ideal wife does not "bother" him with "rambling complaints." A wife is a cook and a counselor. The wife is also expected to arrange social affairs and plan events. Wives become the ideal hostesses during parties, catering to guests and also cleaning up after them. Therefore, the role of the wife is not just manifest within the nuclear family but is also evident in all social situations. Wives are also expected to understand when the husband needs to spend time out alone.

The seventh section of "I Want a Wife" refers to the sexual duties wives are expected to fulfill as well as the sexual roles and relationships in a marriage. Brudy shows that husbands dictate sexual encounters, not wives. Husbands set the time for sex and which activities to perform. Brudy also mentions that the primary responsibility for birth control falls in the hands of the wife, not the husband. The husband does not want to have any more children, but it is up to the wife to make sure that no children are conceived. Brudy mentions the prerogative of the husband to engage in extra-marital affairs: "my sexual needs may entail more than strict adherence to monogamy. I must, after all, be able to relate to people as fully as possible." On the other hand, wives are expected to remain chaste. The sexual relationships between husband and wife are like the economic and social relationships: imbalanced and in favor of the husband. Wives occupy the subservient, subordinate position.

The eighth section of "I Want a Wife" refers back to the opening anecdote about her male friend seeking a new partner. Brudy implies that males expect to be able to get rid of a wife, trading her in for a new one. The husband also assumes that the mother of his children will assume primary care duties "so that I am left free." The author juxtaposes the husband's freedom by stating in section nine that wives are expected to quit their jobs to "more fully and completely take care of a wife's duties" at home. Thus, the wife is a veritable slave to her husband's needs. Brudy concludes by stating bluntly, "My God, who wouldn't want a wife?"